Shepard Reviews

Warton and the King of the Skies

Published in Unknown Binding by Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co (1978)

Author: Russell E Erickson

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A Great Story About Teamwork

Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2002-02-28

This story is about two toads, Warton and Morton, who fly off and accidentally crash. They are captured by weasels who want them to help build a new home for the weasels. One of the weasels get captured by a hawk. The toads use teamwork to help rescue the weasel. The other weasels learn that teamwork is better than fighting. I liked this story because the toads help each other and even their enemies.

White Nights and Ascending Shadows: A History of the San Francisco AIDS Epidemic (AIDS Awareness)

Published in Paperback by Cassell (1997-09)

Author: Benjamin Heim Shepard

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Different Experiences

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2004-08-03

This book is a good read, even though it can occasionally be dry. The book uses commentary from various individuals to cover the many aspects of AIDS, from the beginning to about 1995 in one city, San Francisco. Every group is represented, not just gay men. Overall, a valuable addition to your library.

Winnie the Pooh's Colors

Published in Hardcover by Dutton Juvenile (2009-02-19)

Author: A.A. Milne

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TEACH YOUR CHILD COLORS WITH CLASSIC POOH

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2000-05-15

This book is in the old pooh style of drawing which looks much different than what we are used to today. There are two examples for each color...Poohs sweater is red, Piglet's scarf is red. Includes orange sunset, white snow, purple flowers and yellow and black bees.

Winnie the Pooh's Opposites

Published in Board book by Dutton Juvenile (2009-06-11)

Author: A. A. Milne

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LEARN OPPOSITES WITH THE OLD CLASSIC POOH ILLUSTRATIONS

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2000-05-15

Goes through more opposites than most other books. Believe itor not it uses Eeyore for happy and sad. Just remember that thepictures are not in the Pooh style used today in movies, etc.

WITCHES' CHILDREN

Published in Hardcover by Lothrop Lee & Shepard First Edition (1982)

Author: Patricia Clapp

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My Review on Witches' Children

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-03-09

The book Witches' Children is a wonderful book that takes you back to when the Salem Witch Trials were occurring. You will experience what it felt like seeing all of these things happening to people that you know, all the while being the person making all of these things happen.
This is an awesome book for young adults, because they will understand why not to exaggerate what you are feeling, or if you are fibbing not to, because a little thing to get you some attention can escalate easily into some thing a whole lot serious.

WTP/ Peek-a-Pooh (Winnie-the-Pooh)

Published in Hardcover by Dutton Juvenile (2001-04-02)

Author: A. A. Milne

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Charming little book

Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2002-12-13

I bought this book for my son who is 20 months old and LOVES books. He is getting too "old" for many of his board books but is too squirmy to sit through most story books so this is a wonderful transition book. It tells a nice little story and, unlike other cheesy lift-the-flap books, the illustrations are all Classic Pooh. The flaps really blend in with the rest of the illustrations so it does make for more of a challenge to lift them but my son thinks that is more fun. He also likes that there is a different Pooh character under each flap and that they are all together at the end.

Your body

Published in Unknown Binding by Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books (1983)

Author: Gwynne Vevers

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Human physiology book for 5-12 year olds; positive attitudes

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 1998-08-29

(Originally published as six separate books: Skin and Bone, Blood and Lungs, Feeding and Digestion, Muscles and Movement, Seeing Hearing and Tasting, Reproduction.) 140 pages, 19 x 24.5 cm; full color illustrations.

I was attracted to this book because it demonstrates a positive attitude towards the body that is so frequently lacking in most books. This book is not afraid of using good illustrations in an appropriate way -- for example, it's not afraid of using an illustration of a naked person where useful (whereas most books avoid nudity except where they absolutely have to).

The book is full of good text describing the body system in question, paralleled with funny cartoon drawings and jokes from the cartoon characters. Children will find this book easy to read and enjoyable, although I think sometimes the jokes are a bit oblique and may distract from what is trying to be explained (unless a parent is present to explain how the joke fits in to the topic being discussed).

An Empire of Women

Published in Paperback by Berkley Trade (2002-05-07)

Author: Karen Shepard

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Intersection of Love and Discord

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-05-05

Karen Shepard creates an intriguing triad of women, united by images, dreams, and the spoils of unfulfilled dreams. United by a deceptive retrospective article of an aging photographer, three women return to the cabin in the country where Celine Arnaux once created a masterful series of photographs of her granddaughter, Cameron. Accompanied by Celine's daughter Sumin, and Cameron's would-be adopted daughter Alice, the women engage in a week of simmering tension and hidden secrets and ambitions.

Shepard's style is graceful and full of the chiaroscuro that she evokes in the legacy of Celine's photography. Her descriptions are lifelike, and the emotions of her characters are palpable. A quick read, but stirring nonetheless.

Unsettling

Helpful Votes: 2 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2001-10-10

Talk about a seriously hostile look at familial relationships between women! Disturbing, to be sure, but well-written and thought-provoking.

Cruel and Unusual Punishment

Helpful Votes: 2 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2001-03-07

Like the revolution that forms the subtext of this book, the story of these women while interesting lacked that crucial element - characterization. The three principles were alternately whining, mean and supremely egotistical. The only one I vaguely sympathized with was the mother, Sumin? (Who could have become a person with a mother like she had?) The other two were not fleshed out enought to illicit any real feelings for them (the grandmother (Celine) at best two dimensional through her historied past - the daughter (Cameron) simply a narcissistic brat.

Perhaps I don't understand the Chinese mind well enough to appreciate the strange stinginess of these characters souls...

Brilliant beautiful writing, characterization falls short

Helpful Votes: 2 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2001-02-14

This book had so much going for it, but I wanted it to be more than it was. The author's writing skills are magnificent. The relationships between the three generations as well as the two outside characters are complex. There is a lot of rich material here including Chinese thought and symbolism I especially found the grandmother's story and interior dialogue sequences compelling. The daughter and granddaughter never fully materialized for me even though there was a lot of dialogue and angst expressed by everyone, as if to spell out the meaning. I found some explanation for the characters' motivation but not entirely and not satisfying enough. I kept waiting for each "ah-ha" moment, and there were many, for it to all make sense, but it never did. Also, the injection of the little girl Alice into the family picture, while supposed to be the key to the family's deliverance, seemed gratuitous. All in all, this is a talented effort that ultimately does not deliver.

Brutal - Bloody - Brilliant

Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2001-01-27

In this stunning debut offering, author Karen Shepherd tells the story of three very strange, alienated and ultimately cruel women. Celine Arneux, famed photographer -- her daughter Sumin -- and granddaughter Cameron are connected by blood only.

Forget the warm and cozy relationships of Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club. These three women of Chinese heritage are more akin to Madame Mao.

Celine is now retired and living in her beloved Paris. Sumin and her lover Grady live in the states, as do Cameron and her ward, the 6-year old Alice. The four females agree to meet at a cabin in Virginia where Celine took provocative photos of Cameron when she was a child.

Not one relationship in this family is healthy or based on any kind of true respect for its circle. Celine is aloof and cruel to her daughter. Sumin resents the one-time relationship her mother had with Cameron and has never really found her way in the world. Cameron boils over with anger at grandmother for taking such intimate photos of her and at her mother for allowing the photos to be taken. There are so many unresolved issues in this book that one needs a scorecard to keep up with them all.

Add to this caldron of raw anger and emotional immaturity the fate of the young Alice, whose mother has been forced to return to China without her. Each of the three women -- Celine, Sumin and Cameron -- wants to raise Alice and the battle over her future becomes bloody and extremely brutal.

An Empire of Women at once riveted and repulsed me. Although the author does an excellent job of telling the story, the subject matter and its devastation were a bit too much for my taste. The only character who truly evoked sympathy was Celine's Chinese mother -- and my heart broke for her on almost every page.

I look forward to other work from this author. She's got a voice and a gift -- my wish is that she finds something lighter to write about next time around. This story just wore me out.

The Golden

Published in Hardcover by Mark V Ziesing (1993-03)

Author: Lucius Shepard

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Not Free SF Reader

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-09-25

Old fashioned murder mystery.

Although the detective and his suspects are vampires.

A project to build something really tasty in the direction of people to drink from has ended in a murder.

A detective i called in by the vampire family with capital F involved to try and work out what is going on.

Vampire politics, not so much fun if you are stuck in the middle of them.

3.5 out of 5

Absolutely riveting!! Where's the sequel?

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2006-02-21

I can't believe there hasn't been a 2nd book published after The Golden's ending!! It begs for a sequel...I need to know what happens in the East! Anyway, I loved everything about this book, from the prose to the setting to the characters to the story. It was a gritty, dark, gothic, sensual, harrowing, creative journey that pulled me in from the beginning. From "the Mystery" to the Patriarch, from the dark castle to Alexandra, it was a great vampire read. I loved how Mr. Shepard hinted at various powers the vampires had, showing us some but only imagining others. A great read that I recommend to any fans of vampire novels, the supernatural, the gothic setting and overall dark fantasy/horror.

What?!

Helpful Votes: 2 out of 9 total.
Review Date: 2005-09-10

I honestly have no idea what The Golden was about. I remember some irrelevant "mistery", I recall some ultra-cliche ancient vampire called The Patriarch, some interesting writing style which often spawned pointless paragraphs, and the thing I remember the most is that I really liked to book cover. And its the only thing I truly liked about this book... except the writing style... at times.

Oh and it feels as if the writer really wanted to write about sex, but didn't have the courage to actualy go into details so he settled for kid-friendly descriptions of his fantasies.

As for all else... one thing is certain: Lucius Shepard ain't my writer of choice and I sure won't be buying any more of his works.

A who-dunnit with Vampires

Helpful Votes: 2 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2002-10-22

I found the plot and images entertaining enough to keep my interest throughout the story, but I couldn't help thinking that I was really reading a murder mystery instead of a horror novel. The basis of the story seemed like the classic 'a body was found in a room where all of the windows and doors where locked from the inside'. The only difference being that some of the cast of characters where vampires.

That being said I really would give it a 4 star rating as a pure mystery novel. I was guessing until the end and I thought all of the loose ends were very neatly wrapped-up. It is just that as a pure horror novel that I would only give it a 2 star rating. I suppose my 3 star rating is the average of the two.

The writing is stellar, the plot isn't

Helpful Votes: 2 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2002-09-18

My original comparison for this book was Gene Wolfe writing an issue of Marvel Comics' "Tomb of Dracula." This is not a "mean" comparison. I tend to use Wolfe when I want to compare a someone to the pinnacle of excellent writing in a genre (I compare Wolfe himself to Borges or Shakespeare, depending on how effusive I'm feeling). And, as far as comics go, I liked "Tomb of Dracula." But, on the other hand, I am damning Shepard with faint praise as well. Although The Golden has some excellent writing in it the novel ultimately strikes me as unfulfilling. There's a lot of wonderful visuals and high language, but underneath that, it's still a comic book This is also well worth reading if you are a Shepard fan. But I'd hesitate to recommend this blindly.

Pooh and the Philosophers

Published in Hardcover by Egmont Books Ltd (1995-06-12)

Author: John T. Williams

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Western Philosophy is so un-Pooh-ish

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-10-19

If there was a ZERO star rating, I would have given it here. I became interested in this book after reading and thoroughly enjoying the âaeTao of Poohâ by Benjamin Hoff. Unfortunately, I quickly found out that this is the wrong book and for good reasons. First of all I found it extremely boring and often difficult to follow. This deficiency however is merely the symptom of a much deeper problem inherent in the attempt to use Pooh out of all creatures to illustrate Western philosophy. Pooh is the epitome of an easygoing fellow, someone who doesnâ(tm)t take himself too seriously, and who lives each day for itself. This is almost the exact opposite of what Western philosophy has been attempting to achieve. In general, Western philosophers have taken themselves far too seriously, emphasizing logic and deduction over everything else, and were never really easygoing. It is no surprise, given this inherent contradiction, that âaePooh & the Philosophersâ ended up such a disaster. I really donâ(tm)t know what on earth Williams was thinking in using Pooh to illustrate Western philosophy! Instead I recommend Benjamin Hoffâ(tm)s great duo âaeThe Tao of Poohâ and its sequel âaeThe Te of Pigletâ. This book, âaePooh and The Philosophersâ is not worth anything and a waste of time.

an attempt to relate Pooh to western philosophy ruined by stretching a point once too often

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-09-23

Pooh and the Philosophers is an attempt to link everything Pooh to western philosophy and thus provide the reader with a nice introduction to said. The problem is, in stretching the actions and utterances of Winnie-the-Pooh to an extreme, there is little space left to describe the details of western philosophy. So the reader is left scrambling to keep focused on the sparse details of western philosophy provided which are inter spaced by long periods of Winnie-the-Pooh details. I was not able to learn much from this book as a result and I found it very frustrating.

Western Philosophy is so un-Pooh-ish

Helpful Votes: 10 out of 12 total.
Review Date: 2003-10-14

If there was a ZERO star rating, I would have given it here. I became interested in this book after reading and thoroughly enjoying the "Tao of Pooh" by Benjamin Hoff. Unfortunately, I quickly found out that this is the wrong book and for good reasons. First of all I found it extremely boring and often difficult to follow. This deficiency however is merely the symptom of a much deeper problem inherent in the attempt to use Pooh out of all creatures to illustrate Western philosophy. Pooh is the epitome of an easygoing fellow, someone who doesn't take himself too seriously, and who lives each day for itself. This is almost the exact opposite of what Western philosophy has been attempting to achieve. In general, Western philosophers have taken themselves far too seriously, emphasizing logic and deduction over everything else, and were never really easygoing. It is no surprise, given this inherent contradiction, that "Pooh & the Philosophers" ended up such a disaster. I really don't know what on earth Williams was thinking in using Pooh to illustrate Western philosophy! Instead I recommend Benjamin Hoff's great duo "The Tao of Pooh" and its sequel "The Te of Piglet". This book, "Pooh and The Philosophers" is not worth anything and a waste of time.

Good concept -- but the joke gets old

Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2003-06-23

This book was the primary text in a university workshop I just took on "Philosophy in Children's Literature." Being a big fan of Benjamin Hoff's "The Tao of Pooh," I approached the book with great hopes. Williams' tongue-in-cheek conceit is that the Bear of Little Brain is, in fact, the greatest philosopher that ever lived. All of western philosophy before Pooh was mere preamble and the twentieth-century existentialists were familiar with an heavily influenced by the "Great Bear."
I felt that Williams was more interested in being clever than in whatever other goal he had in mind. He presents the philosophical concepts too briefly and dismissively to be of much value. Worse, it seems he spends more space extolling the brilliant Pooh that really discussing how the (sometimes stretched past the breaking point) passages from A. A. Milne's stories relate to philosophies. Like any one-joke movie or TV series, it just got repetitive and annoying after awhile.

A bit of a far stretch, but interesting...

Helpful Votes: 7 out of 9 total.
Review Date: 2004-08-07

This book is reminiscent of the writings of conspiracy theorists. The author takes a number of threads from A.A. Milne's Pooh books and interprets them in a way to turn Pooh into the greatest teacher of Western philosophy. At the start, it seems entirely outlandish, but halfway through, you will start thinking, "Jeez, I suppose that could be true.., it makes sense, I think." Here's an example. Pooh gets a balloon from Christopher Robin in order to reach some honey. Williams posits the theory that this is referring to the earliest Greek philosophers, who were greatly interested in cosmology. The balloon, he says, represents the round earth, floating in space. The honey, thanks to Pooh's secrecy surrounding why he wanted the balloon, represents philosophical truth. In other words, the realization that the earth is round is a step towards philosophical truth. However, Pooh fails to get the honey, showing that the path to truth is not so simple. "We must not expect our first endeavours to lead us to our goal."

While this book is presented in somewhat of a tounge-in-cheek format, there is little doubt that Williams is earnest in his belief, and this book could serve as a bit of a basic primer on Western philosophy as it introduces the theories of a number of great philosophers. However, this is VERY basic, and the book itself is a bit of a trifle. I'd say it's worth a read, but don't take it too seriously.